Nathan Horton Leaves Game 1 Due To Undisclosed Injury, Status Unknown

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BOSTON (CBS) — On hockey’s biggest stage, the Bruins may be without one of their most productive forwards.

Nathan Horton left Wednesday night’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in the first overtime and did not return to the game.

It was not clear what Horton’s injury was exactly, though he appeared to be in great pain after shoving Niklas Hjalmarsson in front of the Chicago net, seconds after Horton hit the post with a shot from along the goal line. Bent over in pain, Horton skated off the ice in the middle of a Boston power play and immediately went down the tunnel to the locker room. He did not return.

Head coach Claude Julien had no update on Horton’s status after the triple overtime loss.

Horton suffered an “upper-body injury” when fighting Jarome Iginla in April, forcing him to miss the final five games of the regular season.

Milan Lucic, who scored two goals in the game as Nathan Horton’s linemate, spoke of the difficulty of playing without Horton.

“It sucks,” Lucic said. “Everyone knows how big of a player he is for us, especially in the playoffs. He’s also shown that he can score big goals at big times.”

It’s not the first time Horton has suffered an injury during the Stanley Cup Final, of course, as he was knocked out of Game 3 by Aaron Rome in 2011 with a hit that gave him a concussion and ended his season four games early.

With an assist and a plus-1 rating in Game 1, Horton recorded his 19th point and improved his rating to an NHL-best plus-22.